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eleanor-bradstreet · 1 year

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Locked Out (Anthony Bridgerton x Reader)

Anthony Bridgerton x fem!Reader Modern AU Rated: 18+, explicit sexual content, language, mentions of blood Word count: 4.2k

Summary: When you find yourselves locked out of your house in the middle of the night, Anthony has some ideas for how you can kill time.

Author's Note: Inspired by true events that involved all the frustration but none of the fun 😜 This was just an idea that rooted itself. A silly little fic outside my usual style. Thanks to @faye-tale for chatting with me while I waited for a locksmith. 😊 And thanks to @colettebronte who always has the right JB pic for the job. 💜

You knew this would happen. You had never trusted the smart lock ever since Anthony had installed it. Either some criminal masterminds would hack the whole network of them, or the battery would die and leave you precisely where you were now, standing on the stoop in the chilly air as midnight approached, the moon and your phone as your only light sources. Again you wondered what was so bad about traditional locks as your phone flashed the error message. But Anthony had to get his way, as usual. One news story about a burglar three towns away and the next day he had bought every ‘smart’ home security device on the market.

Well now the stupid lock didn’t work. The first time you had pressed the button you assumed you had tapped something wrong, given how distracted you were. Anthony was crowding against you, one hand slithering over your backside while the other moved to wrap lightly around your throat. He was breathing heavy in your ear, licking your neck with his untamable tongue, a move that always made your eyes cross a bit. But now you had tried three times to unlock the door and it clearly wasn’t working.

“Anthony…”

He just rumbled in response, biting your lobe.

“Anthony!” You nudged him back with your hips, trying to snap him out of it. “The damn lock is broken.”

“What?” Of course he then had to inspect it himself for a full five minutes, trying every trick on his phone that you had, to no avail.

You stood with your arms crossed. “Where’s the spare key?”

Even in the dim light you could see his jaw set with aggravation. “Inside.”

You scoffed, “You didn’t hide it outside like you said you would?”

“I don’t want to leave a key to our property lying around for anyone to find. This thing was supposed to be top-of-the-line.” He growled.

You couldn’t help your eyes from rolling. “Anthony, that’s why you hide it…”

“Let me try the back.” He jogged off the steps and around the house through your garden gate. You both knew full well that he had rigged your back door with the same space age lock as the front and wasn’t likely to have any success. All you wanted was to get inside, to get warm and have a glass of wine. You looked up at the glare of the full moon. That must be to blame for your misfortune.

You weren’t going to wait forever and searched the number for a 24-hour locksmith. You were just about to dial when the sound of shattering glass echoed over your lawn followed by a loud curse. Oh good lord…

Before you could even detect which side of the house it came from, Anthony stepped out of the shadows, holding a forearm aloft.

“Anthony Bridgerton, what the hell did you do?” You hissed as loud as you dared, mindful of disturbing your neighbors.

But you knew exactly what he had done when he drew closer and you could see the bloody pulp that now constituted his knuckles. More alarming was the long, jagged tear in the sleeve of his shirt through which you could see the matching slice on his skin, blood already seeping out to darken the fabric.

“Broke the side window,” he grumbled.

“And how did that work out for you, genius?”

His eyes flashed. “The damn latch is too high. I couldn’t reach it inside.”

Excellent. Now you would need to replace your window as well as hire a locksmith. Your simple date night was turning into quite the misadventure. The cold was starting to seep in. Not expecting to spend time outside, you wore only a dress and no coat. You were so tired and irked you were bordering on a tantrum. But your husband was bleeding, quite a lot, and you couldn’t bring yourself to ream him out while he was injured.

“Jesus,” You huffed, taking his good arm and pulling him over to your car in the drive. Fortunately this piece of your property had a keyfob, making it your only form of shelter at the moment. “Sit down,” you ordered, opening the driver’s side door and pushing him into the seat. You crouched next to him and turned his wrist to inspect the damage. It was ugly, the whole sleeve from the elbow down stained red already.

Before you even suggested it, he tugged the cuff of his other sleeve with his teeth, slipping his whole shirt up and over his head until it hung only on his bloodied limb.

“Haven’t you ever watched movies?” You chastised as you began to wind the fabric around the gash. A gorgeous knit shirt ruined forever. “You wrap your arm with your shirt before you punch through glass.”

“Well I’m sorry for trying to solve our problem.” He snipped. You responded by pulling a tight knot, causing him to hiss.

But your frustrated energy threatened to redirect into something else entirely as you surveyed him. Even after all this time together, you went a bit speechless whenever you saw him shirtless. It really was obscene for someone to be so attractive. Broad-shouldered and muscular, with the most perfect patch of soft hair across his chest. Running your hands over him had reached the level of compulsion, beyond mere desire. Seeing as his torso was streaked with blood from his haphazardly bandaged arm, you gave in under the pretense of tending to him. You drifted your fingers up his carved abdomen and onto his chest where his movements slowed under your palm, his breaths deepening.

“I don’t have anything to clean you up with.” You were more agitated than apologetic. How fast were you going to devolve into naked, bloodied neanderthals all because you didn’t have a house key?

“It’s fine.” He laid his good hand over yours, holding it in place. You could feel the strong thrum of his heart. He knew what he was doing. Trying to dissipate your anger by turning himself into a distraction. But you wouldn’t let him. Someone had to remedy this situation.

You quirked a brow. “Should I call the paramedics or the locksmith?”

His pursed-lips look of annoyance was one you saw often and always relished. It was usually the only way he admitted you were right in a spat. Nudging him a few inches, you perched next to him on the seat.

“How long will they take?” he asked when you hung up.

“Half an hour.”

“What are we supposed to do until then?” You knew that silky edge to his voice and turned to look at him. His eyes, always dark, glinted most dangerously at night. Darkness suited him much more than daylight and even though you knew your husband was putty in your hands, one flash of those eyes made you feel like prey.

You shivered, due to him as much as the wind. “Whatever we do, I’m staying in here. It’s too cold.” You wouldn’t give in that easily. You stood and moved to walk to the passenger side but an arm curled around your waist and tugged you back onto his lap, then the door was pulled shut beside you.

“Imagine how cold I am without a shirt on.” His low voice reverberated through the enclosed space and soft lips landed on your shoulder. His arm was still banded around you, holding you tight. The devil.

You twisted to face him again, already knowing you would lose this battle. He smirked, just a glimpse of teeth in the blue glow of the fading dash lights lending fangs to your predator. Wasn’t he the wounded one? How did he gain the upper hand so quickly? You rested your hands on his chest again and knew he was lying. He was warmer than you and heating up by the second, his breath gusting over your forearms as you stared each other down. Each time you touched one another in places otherwise typically clothed, it brought out your animalistic tendencies. But seeing him like this, cast in shadow and roughed up, was causing something especially carnal to simmer inside you.

“We can turn the car on for heat.” You argued, never wanting to grant him the last word.

But then he pressed himself against you, hands spreading wide to grasp your bottom as he nuzzled his jaw against your cheek. He knew all of your buttons. One pass of his short beard across your skin and it was over.

“Mmmm…” he hummed in your ear, the baritone he reserved to devastate you. “Bad for the environment. We can keep each other warm.”

Then his tongue resumed its journey up your neck, leaving you gasping until he traced it into your waiting mouth.

Damn him. You hated and loved how easily he made you go to pieces. If you were being honest, the feelings worked in tandem. It was often when you were the most aggravated with him that you reached the highest peaks in your lovemaking. As your tongues swirled around each other, you knew this would be one of those times. But you’d have to be quick unless you wanted to put on a show for the locksmith. This was reckless, juvenile, but you didn’t care.

“I suppose you’re right.” You murmured over his lips then pushed him roughly back against the seat. His eyes lit with excitement as you maneuvered to straddle him, hiking your skirt up your thighs, kicking off your heels and underwear as you went. His splayed hands ran up to your back and crushed you to him for another hungry kiss. You moaned into one another, overcome with the rush of it all, with the risk you may be seen. As you held his jaw possessively, you wormed a hand down to the seam of his trousers.

“Do you have enough blood left to power this thing?” You smirked, nipping at his lower lip.

“See for yourself,” came the husky reply. Pressing down, you felt the bulge and rocked your palm against it. His responding noise caused a familiar jolt of desire to shoot through your every cell. You knew you were already soaking, aching and ready for him. In a flurry, the two of you fought off his belt and buttons and shoved his clothes down his thighs until his cock sprang free, rigid and hot in your hand. Positioning yourself, you swiped the head across your entrance, gathering the slick then swirling it around your throbbing clit. Anthony groaned, biting his lip and gripping you tight by the hips as you lined up and sank down onto him, your cry seeming all the louder in the small, insulated cab.

There was a reason you had given him the private nickname ‘Logsplitter’. Getting far too candid over too many drinks one night, you had told him how fantastically split open he made you feel. Had described that meniscus seal between pain and pleasure and how his body drove yours to it perfectly and kept you dancing upon it until it fractured and plunged you into liquid bliss. The next day you had been mortified but he eased your anxieties by making it the most enduring joke in your relationship. The bastard had even woven it into his wedding speech, announcing that he would still find joy in life’s mundane tasks with you, whether it be laundry, dishes, or log splitting. Public mentions of it sent heat rushing to your cheeks, but in practice behind closed doors it sent heat rocketing under every inch of your skin. He was so stiff and formidable, stretching you so splendidly. You began to move so that you could savor every inch.

Planting your hands on his shoulders for leverage you began to ride him at a steady clip, reminding yourself that you couldn’t dally. His fingers pressed deeper into your hips as his breath turned staccato with whispered curses. You gave a passing thought to the fact that his injured arm was probably streaking blood across your dress, but thankfully it was black and therefore might be saved.

As much as you were enjoying yourself, this was still a ridiculous situation. Bleeding and rutting in the driver’s seat of your car like you were criminal lovers on the lam and not just idiots who hadn’t kept a spare key to the house. And you were on a timeline. Fueled by a potent blend of frustration and arousal you began to move faster, pistoning on your knees as the leather squeaked. There wasn’t much extra space on the seat for your legs and your increased pace made you slip, pitching forward as one shin fell off the side.

Anthony caught you, hands moving up to your ribs as he chuckled. “Woah. Do I need to strap you in, baby girl?”

You could have slapped him. He only used that name for you when he really wanted to get you riled. Clearly he was enjoying your little tryst, finding the fun in this mess that he caused. You’d like to see him try and fuck you in the front seat. Glaring, you stepped on the recline controls and he stuttered in surprise as he sank backward until he was supine beneath you. Steadying yourself again you doubled your efforts, riding him hard as you held him pinned at the chest.

“You’re enjoying this too fucking much.” You ground out.

“What?” He played the innocent.

“We could be inside,” You panted, every word bouncing with your movements. “In bed. Uninjured. If you had just hidden the key…” Your breath caught as you tilted your hips and felt him strike against the deepest part of you, a twinge that increased your ache. “...and not changed the stupid locks.”

“So this is my fault?” His voice was all seduction, no remorse to be found. His eyes, what little you could see of them, gazed up at you as a hand moved to knead your breast.

“Yes.” You moaned, starting to climb the ladder as his fingers and his cock simultaneously found all the right spots to make you mindless.

“And you’re mad at me?”

“So fucking mad.” You gasped, leaning forward into his palm and angling yourself just so, feeling the ridge of him deep inside start to massage your center of sensation.

He craned his neck to ghost his lips over yours and whispered, “How can I apologize?”

Then his hand moved below your skirt and his fingertips found your clit. Pierced with sensation, you screamed some garbled syllables of his name.

He chuckled, warm and dark. “What was that? I didn’t hear you.”

Oh, he was awful. Driving you to delirium even when you were the one on top. You had found your rhythm, rolling your hips to sink him perfectly into place over and over. Coupled with the press of his circling fingers, you were shooting up the ladder, your blood beginning to hum with anticipation. Maybe you could pull this off in time after all.

“Fuck you…” you hissed.

“You certainly are.”

“Anthony, shut up!” You clamped a hand over his mouth, bringing the other to claw into his shoulder. You had assumed Anthony Bridgerton, man of refined tastes, would have found this all as debased as you did, but he was evidently having the time of his life. Maybe the laugh riot was precisely because he knew you were so flustered, which just made you angrier. But the anger was consigned to your mind only, as your body delighted in him. Warm and firm beneath your palms, he started to move with you, thrusting ever so slightly while his mangled hand pulled you down at the hip, slamming your bodies together as tight as he could on your every descent. His fingers swirled faster, just where you needed them, and soon enough you reached the top rungs, everything surging within.

Anthony mumbled something against your fingers, his breath hot and short, matching yours as you hovered over him. You released him, your mind too clouded with pleasure to fight him anymore. Your thighs began to quake while the rest of you started to tense.

“It feels like you’re about to forgive me.” He purred, and all you could do was whine, squeezing your eyes shut as your hips bucked against him desperately. “Come on then,” he coaxed. “I think I’ve earned it.”

One more thrust and circle of his fingers and you peaked, crying out as your nails sank into the flesh of his shoulder and your other hand scrabbled for purchase in his thick hair. Release radiated out from the epicenter of his touch, spasms clenching around his cock which now felt impossibly huge, fanning out through every muscle. You writhed, circling your pelvis against his as you rode it out and moaned.

“Oh, fuck yes,” he growled from the darkness. “That’s my girl.”

Gasping, you collapsed on top of him, basking in the warmth of his bare skin and the caresses of his hands across your back as aftershocks curled your spine. As you floated, you trailed your fingers into his chest hair. You contemplated extending your forgiveness verbally too, but when you propped up to look at him you saw a flash of headlights through the back window. A truck was turning down your street.

You cursed under your breath and glanced a kiss across Anthony’s lips before pulling yourself off of him and opening the door, stumbling out into the driveway, your mind still swimming. You tugged your skirt down and tried to smooth your hair as Anthony scrambled to hitch his clothes back over his stark erection.

“Stay here,” you cautioned and closed the door.

The truck was indeed the locksmith, a very beatific fellow named Lumley. He didn’t cast any judgment as you explained your situation. He professed to having seen it all and you believed him. But you might have been added to his list of unusual encounters after he deftly popped the door lock and let you in to turn on your lights. That’s when his eyes widened and he asked if you were alright. You looked down and realized he was gesturing to the blood streaks on your exposed arms. The way he fixated on your chin, you suspected you had a streak there too.

You laughed to calm him, explaining that your husband had cut his hand (you elected not to tell him how) and that you were both perfectly fine and would clean up now that you could get inside. A little shaken, he politely wrapped up your transaction and drove away. You were too relieved to be embarrassed and went to collect Anthony from the car.

“Come on, let’s get you inside.” You swung the door open to find him still reclined. His trousers were back on thankfully, but he was slumped, eyes closed, cradling his raggedly wrapped arm. “Anthony?” You put a hand on his shoulder. “You alright?”

He blinked his eyes open and looked at you blearily. “Feeling a bit woozy.” He mumbled.

Fantastic. Not only had he lost blood, he had sent whatever remained shooting down to his cock and now there was none left in his brain. You didn’t think you were strong enough to carry him indoors if he collapsed, but you wouldn’t leave him in the damned car any longer. Tugging him by his good arm to slowly stand, you then draped it over your shoulders and steered him inside. He could walk just fine even if his head was drooping a bit.

You kicked the door closed behind you and walked to the sofa, easing him onto it.

“Aright, sit down. I’m going to get the first aid kit.”

You turned but were immediately halted by a hand around your wrist.

“There’s only one thing that’s going to make me feel better.”

The next you knew, you were on your back on the sofa, Anthony pressing you down as his lips consumed yours. He vocalized his want down your throat as his beard rasped against you. What happened to woozy? Maybe being horizontal was the only way he could function at the moment. He rocked his hips between yours, his unsatisfied stiffness insistently seeking entry. Within seconds you were ignited again, helpless against the weight of him, the taste of him, the smell of him.

“Anthony, if you stain the couch too, I swear…” You mumbled as he sucked at your neck. Tallying the cleanup that remained between the shattered window and your ruined clothes, you would not sacrifice your plush upholstery too. Reaching behind your head, you dragged the throw blanket from the arm of the sofa and quickly bunched it under his blood soaked shirt bandage. He didn’t seem to have heard you, or perhaps he just didn’t care, as he balanced on that elbow and used his other hand to tear open his trouser buttons. You lifted your skirt and helped him, as eager for this as he was.

You groaned in stereo as he sank into you once again, the sensation more overwhelming now that he was on top of you. His tongue dove into your mouth as well, the most delicious parts of him penetrating you as deeply as they could simultaneously. Vanilla as this position may have been in comparison, you loved it. Being completely underneath him, crushed, consumed and controlled by him. You had taken your pleasure and now you wanted to be a ragdoll in his arms. You didn’t know if your desires were romantic or perverse, but you didn’t care. The feeling of being filled and surrounded by the man you loved made you wildly aroused.

With no pretense, Anthony went to work pummeling you, chasing his release as urgently and selfishly as you had chased yours. You opened your legs wide, locking your ankles around his back and letting him plough even deeper. You still found this entire ordeal comical, but the man deserved some relief. In the span of an hour he had been chastised, injured, exposed and now blue-balled. This was his only reprieve until you had to undertake the ghastly business of dealing with his wound. And he was bringing pleasure to more than just himself. Predictably, his every thrust teased your clit, his sizable cock pulling all of you so tight that every feeling was heightened. While he panted harsh in your ear, you ran your nails down his rippled back and pert bum, leveraging with your wrapped legs to push up into him, the two of you grinding into one another as you whispered encouragements.

He was splitting you, sending you back to that place where all of your focus zoned in on the feeling of him inside, the relentless pounding of his body into yours that promised to quell every need of your flesh. Your whispered filth turned into small cries and then into silence as he drove harder and harder, his movements frenzied as he started to growl, pushing for the finish. All you could do was hold on as your whole body shifted beneath him, wearing tracks into the upholstery under your shoulders. You held your breath as your mouth fell open, unfailingly stunned at how he could propel you to the edge so easily. He shifted to look down at you. His hair was growing damp with sweat, a chestnut curl falling beautifully across his forehead. His dark eyes locked into yours, molten. You could read it in each other’s faces - you would come undone together.

Sparing Anthony the balancing act, you brought your hand between your legs and in seconds were breaking, tossing your head back as you succumbed. While the rest of you trembled, you clung to him with your limbs, luxuriating in all the hallmarks of his orgasm, triggered by your own. The way his back arched under your hands as his hips stuttered between your thighs. You loved how his whole body went rigid just before you felt the pulsing inside. He made the most beautiful gasping sound, so contrasted with his animalistic growls leading up to it, his mouth hanging open against your cheek, hot breath stirring your hair.

Absorbing each other’s tremors, he melted into you, resting his head in the crook of your neck and going full dead weight. You tightened your hold around him before he rolled onto the floor. You wound a hand into his hair, tracing patterns across his scalp as you both caught your breath. You looked over at his maimed arm and grimaced. It was a bloody mess. How he had been in the mood for not one, but two romps without a single complaint about an open laceration was a level of stubbornness and libido possessed only by Anthony Bridgerton. Now playtime was over. You had to be adults and handle this.

You kissed the top of his head. “Anthony.”

He didn’t move. Didn’t even grunt in acknowledgement.

You felt a stab of alarm and shook him lightly. “Anthony?”

Then he groaned, nuzzling closer into you. “I think you’re right,” he slurred against your neck. “I need stitches.”

You rolled your eyes but rubbed his back reassuringly. It appeared the adventures of the evening would continue. You just hoped he could still stumble back to the car.

“Okay. I’ll get you another shirt and then drive you to the hospital. And we are taking the spare key with us.”

Tagging: @angels17324 @bridgertontess @broooookiecrisp

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burstingwithbellies · 1 year

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"Today, students, we are learning about--" The professor huffs, not merely because the size of his womb prevents his lungs from fully expanding, although it certainly made things ironic. "--The reproductive system." He looks out across the auditorium, the scores of students in attendance, and scattered throughout are the five responsible for his current condition. And each of them is wearing a smug expression. He tries not to give them any overdue attention; he already looked overdue as it was. His belly jutted out in front of him like an exercise ball, comparable in both sides and shape, though thankfully he was able to afford custom garments tailored to his... unique dimensions. It wasn't just his belly that was obscenely large; his entire body had changed to match, to support this incredible pregnancy. He wasn't slim to begin with, months and months ago when he took those five students on, but the rest of his curves were proportional to his belly. Thick and powerful thighs were needed to lug this boulder of a baby bump around; tremendous hips that made traditional doorways a challenge each and every time; and not to ignore the elephant in the room, his breasts had swollen to ludicrous proportions, each larger than a typical third-trimester belly. A great deal of his salary was now sacrificed to his wardrobe, in need of constant updates so to continue covering his flesh so not to risk indecently. Even so, the buttons of his vest--which could only hope to contain his breasts at this point--were straining mightily. He feared that they might pop if he moved too quickly or even breathed too deeply... which, as previously established, was a challenge. Mustering all the strength in his arms, he placed his hands underneath the base of his belly and with a great show of effort, hefted the gravid orb as best he could, before waddling over to his desk to give his aching legs a break. He really thought that he could stand for at least a minute before breaking, but that was getting harder every time... so hard in fact, that he didn't make it all the way to his chair before he had to plop his belly onto the desk for a quick breather. His ample chest heaved with every breath. "Apologies, I just need a second to catch my breath," he said into his microphone, then to try and lighten the mood, he cracked a joke at his own expense, "Who better to teach you this lesson today than an expert?" There was a low chuckle throughout the room that quickly died down, because really who could stomach watching a man struggling like this? He could name all five of them. He cursed under his breath, that day of weakness oh so many months ago, when he offered those same students--the lost performing in his class--a bump to their grades. And now he was the one sporting a bump. A ridiculously huge one. According to the last ultrasound, each of them had placed at least one fetus inside him, but he was much, much bigger than quints would suggest. He speculated they'd all taken fertility drugs ahead of time, something new and unknown to the market. Which made him a guinea pig. Wiping the sweat from his brow, instead of trying to lift his belly again, he merely pivoted around the desk before falling back in his seat, causing his whole belly to jostle. That upset the children, and he was immediately assaulted with a battery of angry kicks and punches, forceful enough to stretch his clothes. The professor, quite unintentionally, moaned directly into the microphone as the brood inside him protested their treatment. Some of the students shied away, cringing, turning to their phones to distract themselves from the vulgar sight... But five amid the crowd watched more keenly, practically on the edges of their seats, as they watched their children squirm inside the haughty professor--the professor they had given a master class to, on the finer points of human reproduction. Needless to say, they had enjoyed perfect grades for months~

i love him i love him i love him i love him i love him i love him i love this i love him 😍

#pregnant fantasy #mpreg #feeling really kinky ~ 😈#answered 💕#hyperpregnancy #pregnancy kink

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arctic-hands · 5 months

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Thirty minutes and 9 paragraphs into an excited list of alternatives to Spotify's monopoly re: music, videos, podcasts, audiobooks, for weenies like me who are nervous about pirating, and my app crashes.

Well now I'm on a laptop and I swear to god if this crashes too I'm calling it a conspiracy.

LEGAL ALTERNATIVES TO SPOTIFY:

Music: There are virtually limitless options here. Buy music directly from the musicians/band! If they don't sell mp3s directly from their site, they almost certainly have CDs for sale, so buy those and rip the mp3s to your computer (if your computer doesn't have a CD slot, you can buy an external one for fairly cheap). Go to a new/used music store, they still exist!, and buy albums there. Buy old albums from ebay! Go to goodwill or other thrift stores and browse there collection of cast-off music for cheap, you never know what you'll find. Hell, browse their cheap vinyl if you prefer their sound and get a vinyl-to-MP3 conversion device if you like. They even have conversion devices for cassette tapes, if you find a treasure that was only ever released on tape. Once upon a time I would have said Bandcamp for MP3 or even physical albums (I once upon a time got an AUTOGRAPHED TO MY NAME CD of Lauren Ruth Ward's Well Hell album), but they recently union busted and a lot of artists pulled their stuff from them. I don't really know anything about 7Digital's business practices, but they are another seller of MP3 music, as well as MP4, FLAC, and WAV.

Music DEVICES: If you just want to manage everything on one device, your phone, get the free VLC app! It's open source and is absolutely wonderful. I only ever used it for music, but it's capable of much more than I realized, and it's open source and ad-free! And the audio files are tiny, even when I was running out of room on my sixteen gig old phone, I still had a substantial music library on it before before I got a dedicated music player.

Which brings me to my next point: MP3 PLAYERS STILL EXIST! I own two! My first one is a twenty-dollar SanDisk Clip Jam (an established and sturdy brand), my current is a thirty-dollar Phinistec Z6 (that just came out of nowhere it seems). Each have their pros and cons, and there are so so so many options out there. Some are smart, some don't even have wifi (neither of mine do). Some have expandable card slots for even more music. Some are extremely basic, some have a plethora of features. Some are cheap but still decent in sound, some are high-end for that true audiophile experience. Some have touch screens, some have buttons, some have no screens at all. Some only use wired earphones, some only use bluetooth, some (like the Z6) can use both! There are so many brands out there even in Twenty Twenty-four. Even the random brands cropping up online are some really good shit, and I bought both of mine used bc I have concerns about the lithium industry. Oh, and some are regular battery powered. And you don't need iTunes or anything, I just use the basic Windows Media Player to rip my CDs or put mp3s music on my player. In fact I've been avoiding Apple players because I'm worried they'd brick older devices, especially ones with wifi. But there are so many options out there, it's impossible to name them all.

Audiobooks: YOU DON'T HAVE TO USE AUDIBLE! Libro.fm has a similar business model (an optional subscription fee with a free credit every month, or the option to buy book without a subscription for a little bit extra price), and you can direct the profits to the indie bookseller of your choice! I have mine set to go to Baltimore's anarcho-feminist bookstore, Red Emma's. How to listen to the audiobooks you buy? Libro has an app you can listen to directly from! AND they have the option to directly download from the site (meaning no program you have to install) the book in non-proprietary mp3/mp4 files so you can listen to it on any device that can use those files! THAT INCLUDES MP3 PLAYERS! Almost every music player on the market now not only plays audiobooks, but has sections on the device specifically for them! Some, like the Clip Jam, are even proprietary audible-compatible if you still use or already have books there (check audible's site, and you'll have to go thru a registration process). I was listening to audiobooks on both my CJ and the Z6 (the Z6 doesn't have a section for them, but still played them), but I recently bought an e-ink/e-paper (meaning no backlit LED screen causing eye strain or insomnia) ereader, a Pocketbook Touch HD 3, and that is mp3/mp4 capable for audiobooks, and is easier to maneuver books with since it's meant for books. ALSO: the library apps Hoopla and Libby also have audiobooks you can listen to via phone or computer/browser, depending on your library's catalog. Some ereaders can even have the apps for them, and if they have audiocapabilities you can use the ereader for that too.

Podcasts: There are so many apps for this. I have Podcast Addict (I don't remember off the top of my head if it's on apple, I use android, but there are still so many apps). Literally I only had to sacrifice one podcast when I stopped using spotify, PodcastAddict has everything else I've ever listened to or want to listen to in the future. You can download them for offline use on your phone, and, you guessed it, MOST MP3 PLAYERS HAVE PODCAST SECTIONS TOO. MINE DO! There are still ads at the beginning and end, but I usually skip over them without care.

Video: This one is a bit trickier as YouTube is also a monopoly, but what I do is just watch yt on my phone's Firefox browser with UBlock Origins adblocker installed. Sometimes yt gets into a hissy fit with adblocker, but UBlock usually gets ahead pretty quickly thus far. And if in the periods Origins is losing, I just find something else to do. I'm sure someone else has recommendations for videos, they're just not a big part of my life right now.

Anyway, don't let the horrid beast that is spotify monopoloize the audio industry OR your time! There are options, and even if you're not a luddite like me that hates having everything on my smartphone bc I'm worried about privacy or companies yoinking their stuff off my devices via wifi (like Amazon did once with their copies of, of all things, Nineteen Eighty-four about a decade ago) at the whim of corporations. You HAVE OPTIONS! YOU HAVE THE POWER TO CONTROL YOUR MEDIA AND REJECT MONOPOLIES!

#i'm very passionate about this #ily physical media #for a certain definition of physical media since it's all mp3 and such. but I have the power and can hold the device it's all on in my hand #and I own everything on it and they can't take it away from me #spotify #music #audiobooks #podcasts #monopolies #edit: bolded the beginnings for ease of browsing/reading

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antisocialxconstruct · 1 year

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Okay here's my self indulgent little lovely idog unboxing post lmao

First off I think the box is so cute and I'm mystified by all the English on it given the fact that when it came out it was exclusively on the Japanese market. In fact the lovely and happy versions never saw any kind of American analog. But also I know English text on Japanese products is just A Thing and especially in the early 00s I wonder if the trend was even more pronounced.

Fresh out of the box and looking SO slick

Quick little video I took to show the differences between this and the Hasbro version, I just think it's interesting. The Sega design almost ends up feeling more like a prototype but I like that it also has more of a ~robot~ feel to it.

And one supplemental image because I realized I didn't touch on the different speaker design or the buttons on the Sega dog's head and didn't feel like retaking the video 🤷

Just from a quick computer-translated glance at the manual it seems like the Sega dog does a load of different things that didn't carry over into the Hasbro release, so I'll definitely follow up when I've got the right size batteries 😭

#old friends senior idog sanctuary #idog #i-dog #Bluedog #I'm thinking the new one should be named #Aiko #maybe it's a little on the nose but it's cute #also enjoy...... voice reveal. I guess

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pathanga · 7 months

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Friendship bracelets & fan-cams - The 'fangirlification' of Motorsports

It’s no secret that motorsports and sports in general are seeing a surge in popularity. Formula One enjoyed a crowd of 1.3 million watching the Las Vegas Grand Prix, a brand new track with no history. But is this due to organic interest in the sport? Out of these 1.3 million, how many turned the race on for the first time with no expectations except to see fast cars zip through a street circuit? Or did they watch with an expectation, with the basic knowledge that can only come from consuming content on social media?

Shows like Drive to Survive (Formula One) and There Can Only Be One (MotoGP) have a reputation to be dramatized, fans of the shows labeled as ‘DTS fans’ and not true fans of the sport. This, unfortunately, is a common occurrence in many fan circles, affecting mainly women and younger fans, pushing them away from the sport. Mention your interest in Formula one or MotoGP around a certain group and expect to be quizzed on what DRS stands for or on what happened in Sepang between Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez. Name a popular driver and brace yourself to be accused of liking them for their looks.

But there has been a change, not a sudden one, but a change that has been long coming.

The online fan-spaces of sports have slowly filled by more women, sharing their opinions, ‘live-tweeting’ and ‘live-blogging’ their reactions. It’s become a trend to make races an event with bracelet trading and painted shirts. This isn’t anything new, Japanese fans are known to flood Suzuka with intricate hats, each bigger than the last. The Tifosi (fans of historic team Ferrari) are known to come dressed in elaborate costumes. Popes, Priests and many more religious figures flock to Imola and Monza to bless the Ferrari Drivers. You can joke that Charles Leclerc enjoys a fan-base of mostly younger women, but the dedication Italian men show to him cannot be topped.

Even the teams and the sport itself are embracing the new attention from their fan circles. Duracell, battery manufacturers and sponsors of the Williams F1 team, have jumped in head first, posting ‘fan-cam Fridays’ of drivers Alex Albon and Logan Sargent. Ferrari has even joined in, fans joking that the team posts ‘thirst traps’ of the drivers when they don't live up to standards. MotoGP takes a more subtle route, their latest campaign ‘under the skin’ an intimate look into the scars and tattoos of the riders. But the upturned eyes and soft lighting feels less than educational.

But is this a healthy path for the sport to go down? Should the sport rely on their drivers' looks and marketability to gain fans instead of pushing innovation and talent? It's a gray area at best. The days of proclaimed playboy Jenson Button prove that looks and talent can be balanced. But BrawnGP wasn't posting Jenson in an ice bath after a tough race.

If we are exploring the marketability of teams and its pitfalls we have to discuss Haas and Guenther Steiner. Moneygram Haas Formula One was once a pool of potential, the only American team on the grid. Haas could have been the envy of the grid, pride of the American fans. But Haas sits comfortably towards the back of the grid, known for Lego brick cars, the phoenix called Romain Grosjean and their Ex-team principal Guenther Steiner. Driver to Survive captured Guenther as a character in the paddock, with his colourful language and quotable sentences. Newer fans were swayed by his portrayal and then ultimately disappointed when their underdog lost to the dominant Max.

In the end, none of it matters. The sport is ever evolving and will always be evolving. The beloved Halo, saviour of many, was once seen as a curse. Only time will tell if the ‘fangirlification’ will bring the sport down or uplift it. It's not about the race to create the perfect sport, but more about the history and community built from it.

Yes Max Verstappen may be dominating the grid, but off-grid the real winners are the fans, watching history be made, and even be part of it.

#Pathanga's own #featured

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genericpuff · 10 months

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hello! i don't know anything about digital art or tablets but it's something i'd like to try out. i was wondering if you know of any affordable tablets that you don't have to hook up to a computer?

So the fortunate thing is that tablets have gotten a LOT cheaper especially with other companies like Huion and XP-Pen stepping up to offer competitive prices compared to Wacom, which is notoriously expensive.

That said, the unfortunate thing is that the cheapest tablets on the market are the ones that you have to hook up to a PC (these are typically desk tablets, i.e. the ones that you basically use as a computer mouse because there are no screens built in to them).

There are PC tablets where they're all in one PC's that offer tablet screens (I used to use a Cintiq Companion 2 which was exactly that) but they're INCREDIBLY expensive and honestly, not much better than just getting an entry level PC and screen tablet / monitor + desk tablet. It's definitely not something you'd want to get if you haven't tried out digital art before either, because there's a risk in that in and of itself - you haven't done it before, so you're not guaranteed to stick with it. And I say that because digital art in and of itself is a medium, there's a learning curve to it even if you already have foundational knowledge in traditional art (though that foundational knowledge will help a lot) and it's not as easy or simple as just pressing some buttons and making art appear. So the last thing you're gonna want to do is spend a whole bunch of money on a drawing tablet / digital art software if you wind up not liking it in the long run.

So I would say your best option for trying out digital art without losing out on a whole lot of money if you wind up not enjoying it (and if you want something that doesn't require hooking up to a PC) would be a Samsung tablet or iPad - and I say that because if you DON'T end up creating digital art in the long term, you'll still have a handy portable PC that you can use for other things. You can get iPads and Samsung tablets at used prices through pawn shops, local marketplaces, etc. or if you have strong rep with your phone company, you might be able to snag a deal next time you renew your phone plan (I would recommend checking around back-to-school season or Christmas/Black Friday/etc. as that's when phone companies offer crazy deals where you can get tablets and accessories basically for free LMAO)

Just make sure you do your research on what tablets offer what in terms of pen and software compatibility, some tablets don't work with pens, others only work with specific kinds of pens, etc. For iPads, you'll typically want something that will ideally work with the Apple Pencil 2, as that's the newest model of the Apple Pencil (and it has that fun way of charging where you can just stick the pen to the side of the tablet and it magnetizes/charges from your iPad's battery).

I can't really give advice on the Samsung tablets as I've never used them, so do your research for that one, there are loads of videos online that talk about all the different models and benefits. Just note that if you want to use Procreate specifically, you'll need an iPad as it's an iOS-only app. Clip Studio and Adobe products , on the other hand, are offered on virtually all mobile devices and software!

I hope that helps! Good luck!! <3

#ama #ask me anything #anon ama #anon ask me anything

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l3x01d · 6 months

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98' Furby Battery Contact Replacement/Repair Guide

What you'll need:

soldering iron, flux, 60/40 leaded solder, related safety equipment

size 1 bit Phillips-head screwdriver

needlenose pliers

new battery contacts (the little metal parts inside the battery compartment that touch the batteries) for AAs (the ones i ended up using i got on ebay and were called "Battery Spring Plate AA Battery Contact Nickel Plate 28mmx12mm for DIY 20 Pcs")

q-tips and very very thin/small disposable make up brushes (i found some marketed as stirrers for drinks or resin)

very thin/sharp pry tool or xacto (depends on how corroded the contacts are! you might not need this)

**If you're using this guide for other electronics: Pay attention to what each contact looks like and where it's placed. Take many pictures both close up and far away to help you later! The point is to try and recreate the contacts as exactly as possible. The most important part is that the batteries "contact" (touch) the metal. If there's multiple parts to the compartment (like on this furby) there should be metal connecting all the parts. This will become easier to understand as you read this guide.

This is xXToh-Loo the VoideaterXx! They've been hanging out on my work table while I worked up to changing their heavily corroded battery contacts.

I'm not gonna go over skinning them since there's so many guides/videos already online. I didnt think of doing this guide until after i finished so the pictures are of new/clean contacts. Sorry for any confusion this causes! step 1. open the battery compartment

step 2. clean whatever you can. i have no pictures of this but i used a combination of scraping the corrosion off with my xacto and cleaning it up with isopropyl soaked q-tips. ive heard white vinegar works really well but ive never used it. if you use white vinegar be careful not to get it inside the rest of the furby! also wipe it down after with water. (making sure its VERY dry before putting batteries inside. use distilled if at all possible. your water may have sediments or metals that could interfere with the batteries)

step 3. bend up the metal that connects the top right side of the contacts. wiggle them until they detach from the compartment. used an exacto or something similar to help with this if they're really stuck. be patient! this might take a while. ****If they really won't budge dont give up! You might need to scrape along the inside edge of the metal [or where you think the metal should be if theyre really rusted/corroded] with your exacto until you dig out a lot of the rust/corrosion. Then try and stab it repeatedly almost like slicing a bagel along the whole side inbetween the metal and plastic. Be careful not to hurt the plastic. Wiggle the exacto side to side all along the edge to break it free.*** Remove and dispose of the old contacts.

step 4. using the xacto and pliers do a similar thing to the other side. there are no metal flaps on this side so it requires more patience but keep going! i promise you'll get it out just be careful. once you get it detached from the back grip the spring with your pliers and pull it out that way.

Step 5. Do the same for the inner right side of the battery compartments. These are unique in that they have a long metal part coming off of the contacts. Remember this for later. You may have to open the casing to remove this part? I cant exactly remember. Just be careful and slow. I go over taking the casing off later on.

Ignore the rest of the contacts for now! Clean everything again to the best of your ability. It's time to take off the casing. There's six screws, two halves of the casing, and one back sensor button. Be careful taking the halves apart! There are speaker wires and I will detail how to do so.

Step 6. Take all six screws and the sensor button out. Keep them together!! They're small and rolly.

Step 7. Take off the casing. Start with the "pet" sensor facing you. Take off the Left casing completely. Crack the Right side a bit until you see the speaker. Grip both wires firmly. Tug it a little to get it out. It shouldn't take much pressure at all. Let the speaker hang and take off the Right casing.

If you tilt your furby up you'll see this spring. be carful with it! mine fell out so you might want to consider taking it out and putting it with your screws.

Pretty much the whole rest of this guide involves soldering. It's annoying but not something that will risk any electronics being destroyed so it's actually a pretty good beginner project.

Step 8. Turn on your soldering iron. Get your safety gear on.

Step 9. Desolder the wires on the side of the contacts and remove the contacts. You might have to really work at these ones! These were the worst ones in mine in terms of corrosion. Make sure there's no corrosion left on the wires. Be careful not to damage the wires with the iron.

Step 10. Clean the compartment again and make sure to get any corrosion on the internals (if there is any! mine didnt have any)

Step 11. Cut the tab off of one of the sets of contacts you have. Keep it and put it aside. Put this in the top Left slot in the compartment. Make sure to put the spring in the - slot and the dome in the + slot.

Step 12. Cut one of the contacts in half along the tab. Keep the tab on the spring side. Put it in the top Right slot in the - side. Bend the tab to secure it.

Step 13. Put the dome from the contacts you cut in half in the Left + slot. Put the tab BEHIND it and bend it to secure them. The domes on the contacts I got don't go out very far so I have to get creative.

Step 14. Cut two more contact sets in half. Cut a strip alll the way down the middle including the tab. Keep these strips for the next step.

Step 15. Solder one strip to the spring side a tabs width inside of the square. The strip should line up with the indent when placed into the compartment.

Step 16. Solder the second strip to the middle of the dome square. Solder another dome ontop of that to ensure the battery makes contact.

Step 17. Place these new contacts into the bottom right of the compartment.

Step 18. Cut another contact in half. Cut another strip off the bottom of a full contact set and THEN cut that contact in half. Solder the strips into the middle of the full spring and dome squares. Place them into the bottom Left of the compartment making sure the strips are through the hole that goes to the internals of the furby.

Step 19. Bend and trim both strips on the inside of the furby. Solder the wires to the bent strips. (Step 9 has a good pic of what its supposed to look like) Shove the second cut dome square behind the soldered in one in the compartment to ensure battery contact.

Make sure the metal contacts touches all the batteries and both long metal ends in the bottom right touches both top right bent tabs when the compartment is closed. It should now work perfectly! Put some batteries in and have fun. : ]

#furblr #furby #furby repair #furby 1998 #how to guide #furby community

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spinupthepornograph · 1 year

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cw: some robotgirl non-con/dub-con.

You take your robot girl's personality card out, and she goes ragdoll.

You clip it into the new adapter that just arrived from aliexpress, then dig through some drawers and pull out a few more personality cards, clicking them all into the slots. The whole assembly goes back into your robogirl's chassis, and you wait a moment for the diagnostic lights to turn green.

You pull out the remote from the dusty package, and stick in a fresh battery. A single button press and the adapter clicks, and an LED blinks a few times. You close up her chassis and and long-press the power button on the back of her neck.

All her servos jerk momentary, then the light in her eyes comes back. Unfocused eyes look around rapidly, then see you, and she smiles.

"Master! Are you done with my upgrade?" "I sure am, my pet. Want to see what I've added?" "Of course, master!".

You help her to her feet, then tell her to stay there. You step back, and click the remote. Her eyes go fuzzy for a second, then come back. She drops to all fours, tongue lolling out of her mouth. She pants, looking up at you expectantly. You pull a tennis ball from your pocket, and gently toss it out the open workshop door and down the hallway.

She excitedly arfs and races out the door, still on all fours. You hear her rooting around the packages waiting around the door, then she emits a muffled happy "yip!" and there's the sound of rapid quadrupedal footsteps as she scrambles back into the room. She kneels at your feet, dropping the slightly-wet tennis ball at your feet, and looking up at you, smiling as wide as she can but saying nothing.

You tap the remote, and again she seems to fuzz out of it for a moment, and you hear the soft click of a relay turning over inside her. She looks around in confusion, and gets back up on her feet. "Master, what... why did I do that? I remember searching for the ball and bringing it back to you, but I don't remember why I did that! It's like I'm remembering someone else's memories!"

You show her the flimsy piece of paper that came with the adapter, and she quickly scans the badly auto-translated english text.

TELPO PM-04 Personality Multiplexer

attach every personality cards into slots A, B, & C, D

insert the card proxy into any Syntek Central Unit (48 only pin)

On attached remote, button press to select toggle active personality card slot

Use only CR3220 cell

Memory Storage is reserved to slot A, other cards will share space

"A personality multiplexer, master?" she says, looking up at you with some confusion.

"Yep! I can swap your consciousness out for one of my choice. Slot B has this.". You hand her the small box, and she goes over it quickly, turning it over in her hands. It's covered in pictures of puppies, and advertises an accurate simulation of a loving "pupper", compatible with any Syntek chassis on the market.

"You turned me into a dog?!"

You rarely get her flustered enough to forget to address you properly. It's cute, though you'll have to punish her later for it. It might be your imagination, but you swear you can hear her fans spinning a little faster at the revelation...

"More or less. I pretty much just put you on pause, while letting a different personality take over your body. And I can do that at the click of a button!" You hold up the remote, showing her the four unlabeled buttons. "Want to see what's in slot C?" You reach towards the button, intentionally slowly...

She reaches out her arms "No! I mean, No thanks, master. Maybe I can look at the boxes first? I'd like to know more about what I'll be before we test it out."

You smile as devilishly as you can manage. "I don't know, that doesn't sound like something little dolls get to choose. Maybe you'd enjoy some time as a mindless sexbot?" Her already-big eyes manage to go wider, and she reaches forward for the remote impudently. You slam the button, and she stops mid-reach.

A moment later, she drops to her knees, and opens her mouth. She says nothing, as sexbots don't need speech synthesis routines. "I'm going to have a lot of fun with this", you think. Mainly in making her remember what you're going to make her do... You unzip your fly, and she leans forward hungrily.

#robot girls #robotgirls

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doggiewoggiez · 11 months

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One of my favorite cameras in my collection is this counterfeit Canon I got at a Goodwill a few months back. There's a number of these cameras on the market under various names, usually close-but-not-illegal names like Canomatic or Olympia or some shit but mine says straight up CANON on it with the stylized text and everything.

(above: example of the same camera under the Canomatic name)

These things are made by the Ouyama Corporation in Taiwan, and needless to say they are a load of cheap dogshit. The lens looks removable, even has a button for it, but the button is fake and the lens doesn't come off. In fact, the large lens itself is fake, there's a tiny glass lens in the base of the lens. To distract from the all-plastic construction there are heavy lead weights inside to give it a professional feel. The flash it comes with is weighted too but if it wasn't it'd actually be a really solid flash. The camera takes AA batteries which is weird.

A couple observations:

Shoots 35mm even though some other branding markets them as digital cameras.

Rather than auto-rewinding the film at the end of the roll, you have to manually turn the dial (which on a real SLR would be for shutter speed) to a rewind option and press the shutter button.

The aperture is a square which I hear results in weird triangular bokeh.

Has an adjustable aperture and at least some light sensing capabilities, as if you cover the light sensor or it's dark and you don't have the flash on it actually switches to bulb mode, though without anywhere to attach a shutter release cable to, it's not very useful.

For some reason there's two viewfinders, a second lens top-down one like a TLR would have, and a rangefinder on the left. The top-down view, I assume, tries to replicate the focus of the lens, since it's blurry until about five feet out.

The timer does work but it counts down with this insanely loud annoying beeping like a smoke alarm.

There is no ISO setting and no pins to detect ISO from your film roll (I use plastic self-rolled cassettes anyway so it doesn't matter).

You CAN in fact actually take pictures with it. It is despite everything a real camera.

(Photos from this JCH article by Joe Aguirre, 2012)

There's not much info on these cameras but there's a Camera Wiki page and an article on Japan Camera Hunter about various forms of this thing if you want to know more. I'm excited to shoot a roll on this and see if anything at all turns out!

#photography #cameras

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ashitakaxsan · 3 months

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From Sci-Fi to Reality: The Potential for Real-Life Mecha Inspired by Gundam!

I've watched mecha anime, the seriesVoltes V,Robotech, Video Senshi Laserion. In fact the great experience is watching Gundam anime.

In recent years, advances in robotics, artificial intelligence, and engineering have brought the idea of real-life mecha closer to reality. Inspired by iconic series like Gundam, researchers and engineers are exploring the possibilities of creating large, human-piloted robots. While we may not have fully functional Gundams yet, the progress made so far is promising. Let's delve into the current developments and the potential future of real mecha.

It happened during 2018

In Japan, engineer Masaaki Nagumo always dreamed of climbing into his very own Mobile Suit Gundam mecha. As an adult, he finally made that dream a reality.

Photos below:Sakakibara Kikai

He created the 28-foot-tall, 7-tonne-heavy LW-Mononofu robot as a project for his employer, industrial machinery maker Sakakibara Kikai, in Japan’s Gunma Prefecture. The metal colossus took six years to finish, and is probably the world’s largest anime-inspired robot that you can actually ride in and control. It can move its arms and fingers, turn its upper body, and walk forward and backward at a snail-like speed of 1km/hour. As any respectable mecha, it also has a weapon – a metal gun that fires sponge balls at a speed of 87 mph.T

The LW Mononofu can be powered by both a 200-volt AC electricity source and a 24-volt DC battery. Its cockpit features levers, pedals and buttons that the rider can use to control the movements of the robot, as well as monitors showing live footage shot by cameras installed at five points on its gigantic body.

its only con is that it can't leave the hangar it was built in, because it is higher than the large door. It has to be dismantled to be taken out…

Despit this the enthuthiasts are determined to make the Giant mecha a real.

Well, thanks to the japanese company called Tsubame Industry, that dream is nearly becoming reality. Well, if we can afford paying it, of course. The small Japanese startup recently showcased its newest product, dubbed ‘ARCHAX’, a pilotable robot inspired by Japanese mecha culture. Standing a whopping 4.5 meters tall and weighing around 3.5 tons, this real-life mecha is powered by a 300V battery and can switch from a standing mode to drivable mode, attaining a top speed of 10 kilometers per hour.

Nonetheless,if someone desires to undergo the thrilling journey with the ARCHAX, he has to pay an estimated 400 million yen ($2.75 million) for one.

It's name is inspired by that of the flying dinosaur Archeopteryx – was recently showcased in a series of videos posted by Tsubame Industry, and the Japanese startup announced that a working version will be presented at the Japan Mobility Show 2023 (formerly the Tokyo Motor Show) in November. As for when the mecha will hit the market, a Tsubame spokesperson said that it is expected to be available in about a year. However, considering the high price tag, the company is targeting wealthy foreign billionaires as potential clients.

Being made of iron and aluminum alloy, while the outer shell consists mainly of FRP (fiber-reinforced plastic). Although the head appears to feature a large camera, it is only for show. In reality, the pilot maneuvering the ARCHAX will have footage captured by 26 different cameras mounted all over the mecha fed into a number of monitors inside the cockpit. The control panel is reportedly similar to that of construction machinery, consisting of two joysticks, a number of pedals, and a touchscreen. Interestingly, the ARCHAX can also be remote-operated.

This mecha can move at a speed of 2 km/h, and in drive mode that speed is increased to 10 km/h. It’s not exactly soaring through the air like in video games, but it’s better than just standing still. It can tilt forward a maximum of 20 degrees in stand-up mode and 30 degrees in drive mode, to ensure that it doesn’t fall over. If these values are exceeded, the system shuts down to prevent serious accidents. The mecha is subject to risk assessment in accordance with the safety regulations of construction machinery and robots.His mechanical arms have 5 movable fingers, and it can grab a variety of things, still the weight of them is limited to 15 kilograms, for safety reasons. Trying to lift something heavy could cause the mecha to topple, putting the pilot at risk and damaging it.

Conclusion

The journey from science fiction to reality is a challenging but exciting path. While we may not see fully operational Gundams patrolling our cities in the immediate future, the advancements in robotics, AI, and engineering are bringing us closer to realizing the dream of real-life mecha. The fusion of technology and imagination continues to push the boundaries of what is possible, making the future of mecha an exhilarating topic to watch.

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viofitz · 2 months

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McDonald's Happy Meal Despicable Me 3

Introduction:

A Happy Meal is a kid's meal sold at the American fast food restaurant chain McDonald's since June 1979. A small toy or book is included with the food, both of which are usually contained in a red cardboard box with a yellow smiley face and the McDonald's logo. The packaging and toy are frequently part of a marketing tie-in to an existing television series, film or toyline. In this review, it's from Despicable Me 3 (DM3) movie aired in 2017. The line up had 22 toys in total counting from every region releases, unlike it's predecessors the line up expanded by featuring several human characters and a robot with different functions. It features Gru, Lucy, Agnes, Balthazar Bratt, Clive (there's Dru, Margo and Edith as well but, there's no physical toys of them), 12 minions figures, 2 kinds of board games, dominoes and a playing card game. Their gimmicks are very different compared to the predecessors such as shooting toys, wheelie toys, movable parts by button or just simply tapping their head, passing toy, hockey game, board games and playing card. The whole toys doesn't have any electronic gimmicks anymore which I'm quite okay since replacing the battery are kinda pain in the butt.

Human

New to this line, there're 6 human characters in total which 5 toys riding/driving their own vehicles (animal for Agnes). However, I don't have 2 Balthazar Bratt's toys including his robot sidekick Clive since I don't like them. In this review, only 4 of them that I will show, most of them are wheelie toys but, each of them got their own unique feature:

Gru's Hydrocycle, has a shooting feature which you need to attach Gru's Hydrocycle with his sub-marine cover then pull the button to shoot him out of the sub-marine. Gru's head is movable very little due to his head is close to both of his hands. This gimmick was made to recreate when Gru emerges out with his hydrocycle from the sub-marine (Although, we only get to see Lucy performed this while Gru and his minions are shown offscreen). In Indonesia, he can be bought by mcdelivery only.

Lucy's Hydrocycle, is a pull back bike which you only need to roll its rear wheel backward then release it to go forward in fast motion. Lucy's head is also movable and can rotate 360 degrees. Until now, this is one of the few toys made for her. Lucy is only exclusive to Australia and Canada.

Agnes' Rockin' Unicorn, it's Agnes riding her fluffy Unicorn doll. It has one wheel underneath the unicorn, when you roll them, Agnes toy will wiggles due to the mechanism made for this toy. Agnes head is also movable slightly.

Despicable Duo, a wheelie car toys that has rolling drill part by rolling the front wheels. The cockpit can be opened to reveal the interior and there's an attached sticker featuring the twins; Gru and Dru. The actual name of this car is Villain Wheels and was originally belongs to Robert Gru (Gru and Dru's late father). While the car is cool looking but, I really wished they'd made a mini figure of Gru and Dru for driving the car instead of a sticker but, it's understandable for a happy meal toys.

The Minions

There're 12 kinds of minion toys in total:

Minion Tongue, has tongue out feature by the button on his jumpsuit pocket, and he also got movable arms. Most sources claimed it's Dave but, he can be anyone that has similar looks to Dave. The toy packaging doesn't mention the minion's name.

Banana Launcher Minion, it's a shooting toy that is similar to Gru's Hydrocycle and Crab Bite Minion but, this has longer range. While I like the gimmick of this toy but, the banana design is kinda lame despite it fits for them. I was hoping like a gadget just like they did on Despicable Me 2 series. He has combed hair similar to Dave or could be his lookalike.

Crab Bite Minion, has a jumping hat gimmick by pressing the button on his backpack. I think this was meant to be Jerry since he's the only one who wore this kind of hat in the 3rd movie but, the toy got combed hair decal like Dave.

Minion Hydrocycle Surprise, has open lid part on the rear part of his hydrocycle to show an art of presumably Jerry. Which you need to push the button on the front wheel. This toy features Minion toy in mini size due to his large vehicle. They would later released more mini minion toys in Minions: Rise of the Gru line up. Minion Hydrocycle is exclusive to Asian region.

Rocket Racer Minion, this minion has wheels underneath his butt and pull back feature but, you'll have to slide the toy forward to make him go backward and will spin several times showing like a rolling rocket. The minion in this toy got also got messy hairstyle which presumably meant to be a spiky hair so, he could be Carl. I think they don't want to waste more materials to make a separate buzz cut hair part like they did in the previous releases.

Pumping Iron Minion, the feature is simply moving the peg on his back right to left to swing both of his arms to show he's having arms exercise by lifting heavy metal dumbell (since the dumbell was painted silver). This minion is shown with angry expression and he got a tattoo on his left temple. Despite having jail uniform, the uniform still got sculpted "Gru" initials on his pocket. Meaning this was supposed to be a minion with his usual jumpsuit. He looks similar to Stuart since he has combed hair.

Minion Antics, similar to Pumping Iron but, the gimmick is to spin his right arm like he's spinning a chain by pressing the button on his back. This Minion also has messy hairstyle so, he could be either Tom or Phil.

Groovin' Minion, this plump minion is given a swinging 2 arms gimmick by pressing his head to show like he's dancing and his legs will also shrunk down to his body. But, you can still make various position arms for him like dancing or playing DJ. He's wearing green colored headset and has buzz cut hair similar to most of fat minions, he's the only fat minion included in this line up. He could be Jerry the fat one or anyone.

Hillarious Hockey Minion, it's an air hockey toy which has 2 minion toy sitting as paddles and a hockey puck inside the paddles. The 2 minion toys are similar to Dave and Stuart.

Banana Flipper Minion, this toy is kinda special I think... Since he is included with 3 accessories; that is a red hoop and 2 bananas. The purpose of that hoop is for Tim/Kevin holding the hoop for us to flip the 2 banana accessories into the hoop hole. This tall minion can be either Tim or Kevin or anyone that has their looks. He's only exclusive to America and Australia continent.

Pass The Minion, like the name you play pass the toy with your family or friends. In order to determine the winner and loser, there's a wind-up gimmick located on his back which you'll need to spin, then toss the toy to your opponent's hand then your opponent also do the same to you. If the toy starts vibrating on you or your opponent's hand, you or your opponent lose. The vibration came from the wind-up's mechanism but, the trick on how the toy was able to hold up the vibration is because it was locked by the minion's hair sticking up. Another tall minion that has Tim and Kevin's likeness, he's only exclusive to America and Australia continent.

Variety Games

There're 4 kinds of variety games included in this set and all of them were only released in either US and Australia but, I only have Despicable Deck and Despicable Checkers:

Despicable Deck, this isn't actually a toy since it's a playing card, it features many characters from DM3, that is; Agnes as a ace spade, Unicorn doll as a ace clover, Edith as a ace heart, Margo as a ace diamond, Dru as a jack, Lucy as a Queen, Gru as a King, and Balthazar Bratt as a joker. While the minions as respective numbers, kinda surprised on how they designed the numbering cards features different kinds of minion arts. All artworks featured in this set were drawn in 2D style instead of using 3D renders. The card only available in Australia and US.

Despicable Checkers, It's a checkers game which requires 2 players to play the game. However, I don't know the purpose of the minion toy included in this but, we can make him glowing and his hat's headlamp will like flashing a light by putting flashlight/smartphone (flashlight mode) on the bottom of his foot. The glowing part is similar to Stuart Light Up Grabber but, without electronic mechanism inside the toy, and I like how the minion toy came to be in solid color except his foot and his headlamp. I think that's the only feature of this toy has. He may have Dave lookalike but, could be anyone with different hairstyle since his hat is sticked onto his head. He's only available for Australia release.

Thoughts:

Comparing between 2013 to 2015 line up, I gotta admit DM3 was the time where Happy Meal featuring Despicable Me franchise at it's peak as the details of the toys are even better than the previous 2 movies. Although, I kinda miss the electronic gimmicks but, this is a big improvements on the moldings. Minion's jumpsuit has sharper details such as seamline details, protruding Gru logo details, detailed shoes including shoe soles and paint quality is much cleaner for the minions. However, I still prefer the separated buzz cut hair part they did on the previous instead of simple paint dots or simply messy hair. And the variety of the toys are also interesting such as human characters and several board games, I'm amazed that they actually nailed their likeness as well, except Gru's nose😂. It is unfortunate, they went downgrade in 2020 onwards so, I'm nolonger interested collecting them anymore but, I'm interested on the 3 Minion toys featured in Japanese Happy Meal Universal Studios line up. I will review them along with other toys that I'm interested in. So far, Hydrocycle toys and Groovin' Minion are my personal favorite.

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sadwinning · 8 months

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Devlog 1 (1/25/24): Why This Is Pointless

In my intro post, I mentioned how it would be much easier to map the 12 chromatic notes of Western music to the 3 action buttons and 8 directions of Undertale, and how I won't be doing that for purely aesthetic reasons. I also want to mention why everything I'm doing to my violin is completely stupid.

If you want to follow in my footsteps, you shouldn't do it the way I'm doing it. You probably can't.

My violin is a Yamaha EV-205 five-string electric from the late aughts/early 10's. I recently learned that this violin is no longer in production, so there's no way your standard Joe Schmoe can pick up this tutorial, nor would they want to if they were in the market for an electric violin, because they already sell electric violins that are MIDI controller enabled. You should buy that and follow the software specs of CZR drums and their MIDI-to-controller software partner/whatever. I simply do not want to spend more money on an electric violin when I already have one with the right hardware (individual pickups for each of the five strings). So I will be voiding the warranty that likely no longer exists and busting open my violin to see what I can patch together.

When I busted this component (pictured above) open I immediately found a not-so-complex PCB where I could locate each of the individual string inputs. I have yet to see whether those ports will give me the inputs I need - golly, I have yet to learn how to solder enough to access those ports!! - but the visibility gives me hope. it doesn't look hard, especially for someone who has been low-key interested in soldering for like 15 years (since my Pokemon Gold copy's battery died and I learned the ways to replace it) but I can't say I know exactly what data flows through that part of the circuit and how easy it would be to extract and manipulate.

I've done a lot of research into what I would need to take analog audio signal(s) and transform them into MIDI or some other binary/digital data. The first thing I found was an Arduino library, so I knew this wouldn't be hard. I only have one Arduino (knock-off) and I didn't like the idea of buying four more (one for each string) to get the MIDI values when I would probably be connected to a computer the whole time no matter what.

This led me to where I'm sitting pretty right now, at a Python library (Python being my favorite language) that uses its GitHub .md file to explain why Markov chains are important. Reader, do you know how much I love Markov chains? Did you know that in my sophomore year of college I created a musical AI by programming Markov chains in Python??? How is it that all of my interests loop in upon each other in the same way that my first and only job out of college involved natural language processing in Python just like my senior project where I did language analysis on okcupid profiles???? Is time in fact a flat circle? I don't have time to think about this because I want to program violin to play undertale pleas

Where I'll be starting is with this library and with monophonic input (one note at a time rather than interpreting multiple notes at once e.g. multiple strings played simultaneously) to make a controller of any kind work. But I have a lot of reading to do to see how Markov chains are involved. With it being both Python and linear algebra, I have the capacity to adjust the code to do whatever I want it to do. Given this insane opportunity I can't not do all the research possible to finetune things to my precise desires. If I were satisfied with "good enough", I would be playing monophonic input the whole way through. Let's go insane, boys.

#undertale violin%

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kfcdoubledown · 1 year

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About three weeks late I now have Doyoky Gamecube joycons and can compare them directly against the NYXI Wizard! I've also disassembled them to attempt to modify them and failed, and can complain about its internals.

Doyoky Retro uses rubber membrane connections on ALL game buttons except for the paddles and context buttons; +, -, Home, Capture, macro/paddle assign, and L4/R4 paddles are the only buttons that use micro-switches. Improvement over NYXI Wizard which uses micro-switches on the d-pad and shoulder buttons.

Macro and Paddle Assign buttons are the only buttons on the entire controller that rattle when shaken.

Doyoky Retro has that kind of cheap-feeling lightness to it that third-party controllers usually do. It doesn't have the weight of traditional rumble motors, so it doesn't feel as premium as NYXI Wizard does.

All the face buttons and sticks feel almost spot-on compared to a Gamecube OEM! Insane upgrade from NYXI Wizard which feels more like a third-party controller.

The joycon rail piece attached to it out of the box is also a USB-C charging station for joycons and works with pretty much anything that can be put on a joycon rail!

Like the NYXI Wizard, the stick caps are again completely custom. This time, sadly, they're pretty purpose-built for the Doyoky Retro, and OEM Gamecube stick caps (as well as the Gamecube-themed Retroflag drop-in controller) do not fit the Doyoky Retro without severe modification. I'm still working on some way of mounting an OEM's C-stick nub to one of the replacement caps.

The Doyoky Retro has replacement caps! The stick caps' actual thumbsticks are mounted on a hexagonal friction-fit bracket and can be removed. You get a gray C-stick style nub, replacements for both to feel more like a Dualshock 4 or Dualsense controllers' sticks, or a ringed rubber C-stick like the analog.

The interior of the Doyoky Retro is pretty convoluted and stupid on a couple of its controls. A plunger on a spring is mounted to the PCB in a well to hit the micro-switch that controls the paddles, and the plunger itself hits a long post attached to the paddle button. This also makes it a total bitch to close the controller back up without anything falling out.

The joycon rail is custom, and none of its functions are actually on the rail itself, they're on micro-switches on the PCB. This includes the SL and SR buttons. The only piece of electronics on the rail itself is the charge/hard connection rail to a Switch or other charger, and the Bluetooth antenna.

The battery is a small (~1 inch long and wide?) pouch battery that is only held in place by the friction of a foam cushion glued to it, and resting on the interior of the controller and occupying some of the space in the handles. Like the paddle mechanisms, this also has a bad tendency to just flop around and fall out; they should have used double-sided tape to secure it inside the well it occupies on the plastic mold.

Doyoky Retro uses a little button motor for vibration instead of fuller sized motors as in a typical controller. Downgrade from NYXI Wizard.

The controller only tries to connect to Switch when pressing Home on the right joycon and Capture on the left. This is really annoying when every other controller on the market, even other third-parties, will try to connect on any button press!

In summation these are worth the money if you want a Gamecube controller, especially one with accurate buttons and sticks. I think, though, that the perfect Gamecube joycon lies somewhere between here and the NYXI Wizard. Either the Doyoky one needs to be heavier and needs more OEM-accurate sticks (the C-stick nub likely doesn't have a C embossed because they're using the same mold for the optional left-stick nub), or the NYXI Wizard needs to drop the button backlight in favor of OEM-style buttons and adopt the rubber membrane button improvements. The Wizard has better paddles, weight and rumble, the Retro has better buttons, bundle-ins, and d-pad. I can't really recommend one over the other, since in direct comparison both have their caveats that make the other more desirable. Maybe a third company will try their hand at a Gamecube joycon, or one of the two will make improvements?

Additionally, Doyoky made me wait an extra three weeks on my order because they ran into quality-control problems that required an entire batch be taken back to the factory. The order almost made it to fulfillment, and was hurriedly taken back; it required asking customer-support what was going on to actually get any reason on why my order stopped moving, and even then they weren't entirely sure why themselves until some days after I first sent an email. The whole while, it was still listed as an in-stock product. Not a good move.

#gamecube #nintendo gamecube #joycon #joycons #nintendo #nintendo switch #doyoky #doyoky retro #controllers #controller

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arctic-hands · 8 days

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What MP3 player? And is it still available! I hare having to muse my phone, and all modern ones require WiFi and that defeats the object of a portable music player!

So about 4 years ago I decided I too was sick of streaming, ads, and algorithms, and was running out of space on my phone for all the songs I wanted to play on the VLC app, so I got a SanDisk/Sansa Clip Jam (the little one on the left)

[Image Description: two MP3 players, next to a hand for scale. On the left is a very small blue one, with a very small and simple white-on-black screen, and a physical button pad underneath the screen. The player on the left is much, much larger, with a larger screen capable of showing color images, and touchscreen buttons underneath. Both players are open to LP albums, but the one on the right actually shows the album art for Churches. End I.D]

Now the little Clip Jam was good for a while and I was glad to have it, but it did have some drawbacks that became clear. Mine was used but I believe these are still being made/marketed. It was twenty bucks used.

Pros (aside from the big one of owning your own media without ads/algorithm

Ultra portability

MicroSD slot for more space

Audiobook-capable, Audible compatible once you register it to Audible

Physical buttons

FM radio

Shuffle capable

NO WIFI, plug in and drag-and-drop uploading

Neutral:

no Bluetooth capability

Has stopwatch

The "clip" in the name refers to the clip on its back, which lets you attach it to clothes and such

Immediately apparent drawbacks:

No external speakers, must have wired headphones to hear anything. They use your standard jack, so I'm assuming you could use compatible external speaker but I never had one to try

Sometimes chapters of audiobooks don't go in order and you have to go in with tag editor software

and sometimes the books upload as one big file, meaning you have to go in with another software to break it up

Thing that made me fully disgusted with the thing after a year or so of frustration:

The HARDware capabilities of the Clip Jam mean that it can only handle two thousand LINES. Not files, lines. Meaning the Artist counts as a line, the Album counts as a line, the songs each count as a line. This is bad enough with just putting music on, but when you add audiobooks to it, the titles of the books and every chapter counts as a line. With an SD card you can add about another two thousand lines. When you use up your line capabilities, the data will be on your device/card but the player won't show it or let you access the files at all.

SANDISK NEVER TELLS YOU ABOUT THIS. It was not in any of the listings for it, it was not in the manual. At. All. I only found out by chance by finally coming across a years-old forum post talking about it after months of frustration while I tried to figure out why half my files (mostly audiobooks by this point) weren't showing

So I started looking for a new one.

...for the life of me I don't remember how I came across the Phinistec Z6, prolly saw it mentioned on the r/DigitalAudioPlayer while trying to come up with a new one to buy for cheap. The brand seemingly came out of nowhere, but it had what I needed. I got it thirty dollars used from ebay. They were still being sold new as of a year ago, I just prefer getting li-ion battery things used.

[Image Description: the players again, the Clip Jam is showing the SD card option, the Z6 is showing a list of Music/Folder/E-book/Bluetooth/Recorder. End I.D]

I don't have an SD card in either and the option only shows up on the Z6 if you have one in.

Pros for the Phinistec Z6

No bullshit line limitation

MicroSD slot for added content

Maybe just a pro for me, but this thing is HEFTY. Not heavy, but dense enough I'm worried you'd crack a skull if you threw it at someone. Wonderful tactile weight in my case.

Long battery life. I think I've had to charge it 5 times in the year I've had it.

External speaker

Wired headphone capable, as well as Bluetooth capable

FM radio (only works when wired headphones are plugged in, the dongle acts as an antenna. This is pretty standard, it used to be that way on phones too)

Audiobook capable. This isn't advertised but it can save your story place in the middle of the chapter. I didn't use this feature too much tho, I got an e-ink reader a few months after. I don't think it's Audible compatible, but there are workarounds for converting those to MP3

NO WIFI, plug in and drag-and-drop uploading

Neutral:

Can read written books for some reason. Not sure why anyone would want to on a screen that small, but it exists

So-so voice recording capabilities

A crappy photo camera for some reason?

Touch screen buttons

Cons:

It doesn't ship with current software, and for the latest update you have to email the company for the download link. Kinda sketch, I'm prolly some Chinese corporation's data bitch now, but seeing as I'm American I'm used to being a corporate (and government) data bitch for my own country anyway

Also had the problem of songs not playing or being listed in the right order. The listing was fixed with the update, but even after tag editing the songs were PLAYING in the wrong order when accessed under MUSIC. When accessed under FOLDER songs play in order, but artists are listed in order of upload then, not alphabetically, so it can get tedious when trying to find the artist you want if you've got a lot of artists on there. Not a deal breaker, just annoying.

No shuffle, but because of the above if you want to shuffle on a specific album just access it thru the MUSIC function

While screen brightness can be turned down, the backlight behind the buttons is blinding white no matter what you do which sucks in the dark if you have sensitive eyes

Isn't as portable as the Clip Jam if you've got small pockets (looking at you, women's jeans)

The external speaker is a bit tinny and higher notes can get a bit staticky (especially a problem when you listen to LP)

Virtually no information out there about Phinistec

I vastly prefer the cons of the Z6 over the hardware limitations of the Clip Jam, all things considered.

#mp3 player #music #audiobooks #physical media #for a loose definition of physical

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